November 2, 2023 at 11:02 am #141696
I know the feeling. It took me that long to understand myself enough to know who and what I was. It was the learning that took a long time, but once I understood and accepted it I had no problem with it. Never been one to lie to myself, and I’m enough of a scientist that I won’t dispute facts I’ve proven to myself about myself.
I was lucky in that I never went to a high school, so I never had to put up with the cliques and peer pressure most teenagers have to deal with, and growing up in a family of teachers and researchers taught me very early in life about blaming outside influences for how I reacted to them.
It’s a really wonderful feeling when you get to the point of accepting.